Barbara Bates, a 77-year-old woman from Arcadia, Florida, died on April 17, 2026, in what authorities described as a double homicide at the Jacaranda Trail Apartments on Hargrave Street. Her death unfolded during a violent domestic-related shooting that first centered on another victim, Tanika Summers, and then reached Bates inside her own home as she tried to summon help.
The morning began with reports of gunfire at the apartment complex shortly after 9:00 a.m.
Investigators said the suspect, identified as 45-year-old Eric Devon Robinson, was involved in a confrontation with Summers. According to reporting on the arrest details, witnesses described Summers backing away with her hands raised, pleading for Robinson to stop. Police said Summers’ daughter tried to intervene with a gun, but Robinson allegedly disarmed her and then used that weapon to shoot Summers multiple times.
Bates was not described as the intended target of the domestic dispute. She appears to have become a witness to the violence from nearby and called 911 as the shooting was happening. During the emergency call, she reportedly told dispatchers that a man was shooting in the parking lot at the Jacaranda Apartments. The call captured the terror of the moment as Bates tried to explain what she was seeing. Before help reached her, she was shot while still on the phone. One report said she was shot through her bedroom window after witnessing Summers being killed.
When police first arrived, they found Summers and began searching the scene. Bates’ death was not discovered immediately. Authorities later said officers were not notified of Bates’ body until around 1:00 p.m., when her granddaughter, Madalyn Brown, found her and called 911. That delay became one of the disturbing details of the case: Bates had called for help in the morning, but her body was not found until hours later.
Robinson was arrested nearby the same day. He was booked in DeSoto County on April 17, 2026, and accused of killing both Tanika Summers and Barbara Bates. Authorities said he faced two counts of first-degree murder, along with additional charges that included kidnapping and obstructing justice. Later reporting said he appeared in court by video from the DeSoto County Jail and was held without bond while facing two murder counts and several other charges.
The case also carried a history of alleged domestic violence involving Summers and Robinson. Court records cited in local reporting said a judge had issued a restraining order against Robinson in September after Summers sought domestic violence protection. That background made the shootings appear less like a sudden random act and more like the fatal escalation of an ongoing domestic conflict, with Bates killed after she witnessed the violence and tried to get help.
Family and community accounts described Bates as a grandmother and a beloved member of her family. Her obituary said she was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, grew up in Solon, Ohio, and later lived in Arcadia. Online family fundraising information described her as someone who should have been safe in her home and said her relatives were devastated by the sudden and senseless loss. In the final moments described by investigators and 911 records, Bates was doing what anyone would hope a neighbor might do in an emergency: calling for help. Instead, she became the second victim in a shooting that left two families grieving and Robinson jailed as the accused suspect in an Arcadia double murder.
